Ex-Ukrainian President’s Aide Killed In Spain

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

MADRID (Worthy News) – The war in Ukraine was brought to the streets of Spain on Wednesday as unidentified gunmen shot and killed a high-profile former Ukrainian politician.

A gunman or gunmen assassinated Andriy Portnov outside a school in a wealthy suburb of Madrid, the capital, witnesses said.

Portnov, 51, was a senior aide to Ukraine’s former pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich, who was ousted in the 2014 Euromaidan revolution.

Investigators said Portnov was also known as “a court fixer” because he used his influence to buy access to and influence decisions in Ukraine’s courts and undermine reform efforts.

Since 2019, Portnov reportedly took steps to control the Ukrainian judiciary, influence associated legislation, sought to place loyal officials in senior judiciary positions, and purchase” court decisions.

Much of these activities were apparently managed from abroad as he fled Ukraine in 2014, according yo to sources familiar with the situation.

Portnov reportedly lived in Russia in 2015 before relocating to Austria. It wasn’t immediately clear when he moved to Spain. In 2018, Ukraine’s Security Service, or SBU, opened an investigation against him on suspicion of state treason, alleging his involvement in Russia’s illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. The criminal case was closed in 2019.

RECEIVING CALL

Yet, his life was cut short on Wednesday when Spanish police said they received a call about the shooting of a Ukrainian citizen at 9.15 a.m. local time outside the elite American School of Madrid, located in the Pozuelo de Alarcon area.

He was the latest victim in a series of killings involving high-profile Russians and Ukrainians in Spain since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Spain has a significant wealthy expatriate population from both countries, despite reported concerns about their influence and impact on regular tourism and investments.

In April 2022, a Russian businessman tied to Russia’s gas company Novatek was found dead in an apparent suicide, together with his wife and daughter, who had suffered stab wounds, investigators said.

In February 2024, a Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine with his helicopter was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds in the parking garage of his apartment block near Alicante.

Separately in November and December 2022, six letter bombs were sent to high-profile targets around Spain, including to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid, government offices, a European Union satellite company, and the U.S. Embassy.

A 76-year-old retired Spanish civil servant whose social media searches suggested sympathy for Russia was jailed for the offences.

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